Despairing
by CriminallyCecy
Summary: David Rossi is forced to go into Witness Protection, until the death threats from the mob stop. How can he continue to put this dangerous family behind bars when he is forced to live a new life? Short first chap/intro. Unbeta'd, sorry. Will be rated M
1. Chapter 1

**I think I may have finally broke through my writers block! =) Hope you enjoy. Will be rated M in future chapters!**

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_Witness protection, my ass. _Rossi thought bitterly. So he'd testified against one of the Nation's largest mob bosses. He could defend himself. David Rossi sighed loudly and unconsciously touched the 1911 hidden snuggly in it's holster under his left arm.

"It won't be for long, Rossi..." Emily tapped the steering wheel and stared ahead, focusing on the street signs in the unfamiliar city. "You'll be back with us in Quantico before you know it and-"

"Don't patronize me, Prentiss. It could be years. And I'll go soft, posing as some old retired gardener in a stuffy suburban neighborhood full of gossiping housewives, their insufferable meat-head lawyer and doctor husbands and spoiled brat kids." Rossi's voice was sharper than he meant, it wasn't Emily's fault, after all. "I'm sorry I don't mean to take my frustration out on you..."

"I know you don't." Emily bit her lower lip thoughtfully and dipped her head into the windshield slightly, reading the name of the boulevard that was her next turn. "Look on the Brightside, Rossi. Maybe one of those gossiping housewives will be a hot divorcee. I'm sure with your charm it won't be difficult to find a distraction." She winked wickedly at her team mate and friend. Rossi merely growled an acknowledgement and stared despairingly at the cookie-cutter houses all in a row on Magnolia Boulevard.

"I need a job, here, Emily. Can you set up some interviews?" Rossi's voice was now pleading. "I need something to do. And not a conniving housewife. I've had three of those, I'll remind you, and it never worked out quite in my favor."

Emily couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Why don't you write another best-seller?" With the glare he gave her she nodded her head quickly "Okay! Okay… fine… A job. I'm on it. Hotch and I will find something perfect, don't you worry. Ah… here we are. 612 Magnolia Boulevard. Oh look! There's a porch swing! How quaint."

_She is far too positive about this. _Rossi didn't give the large home more than a fleeting glare as he unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his go-bag. It only carried two changes of clothing. Packing his entire closet seemed entirely too final and besides, it would have taken three SUVs to transport his many pairs of imported Italian leather shoes and suits.

"This is where I leave you." Emily said warily, watching Rossi give a less than satisfactory look over the furnished home. Awkwardly putting her hands in her pant pockets she shrugged as if to say "Sorry".

"Thanks for doing this, Em." Rossi immediately felt lonely, knowing he wouldn't be able to see his team of friends for a long time. "Communicate when you can?" He hugged her, genuinely, to her shock.

"Of course. Hang in there. We'll all be thinking about you, every day. It's not going to be the same." Tears brimmed in her eyes as she relinquished him.

"Don't start that, don't you dare cry." Rossi gently grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face the door, unable to face the pity in her face.

"Alright. Find yourself a housewife." Emily choked out with a sniff, without looking back, and closed the door behind her, understanding his need for this goodbye to end quickly.

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**Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review I'd love to hear your thoughts =)**


	2. Chapter 2

A myriad of blurry dreams kept Rossi tossing and turning through his first night...

Antonio Santini was tearing off his prison orange jumpsuit to reveal a piece at that grand jury and instead of finding his faithful Springfield in it's holster, he found a handful of glitter... The lights were dimming and a chaotic noise was filling the court room while the prosecutor and judge ran down the isle to double mahogany doors engraved with "In God We Trust"... David looked back down to his handful of glitter and before he could form the words swirling in his confused mind, a giant, iridescent purple chandelier crashed at his feet, spraying the entire place with shards of fine glowing glass.

"WHAT THE FU-" Rossi woke, bolting upright with one arm over his face in defense of the spraying glass. In the half second it took him to remember where he was he immediately was keenly aware of blaring techno music and the sounds of breaking glass amid screaming.

In one fell swoop he had one hand reaching for his gun under his pillow and the other pulling on his abandon jeans from the unfamiliar bedroom floor. The double glass French doors to the far North of his room revealed nothing but would-be peaceful moonlight. Opening the doors he could tell immediately the music was coming from directly behind the well-kept lawn, two houses down to his right. Another loud crash and more sounds of glass, and yelling from multiple voices.

Training and muscle memory now dominated his swift movements towards the fence-line he easily cleared and quickly located the gate that would lead to the front of the house, putting him on the next street over. Now standing half naked in the strange yard a street behind Magnolia, revolver held steady at his chest cautiously, Rossi's eyes darkened at the scene before him.

_Put the damned gun away, Rossi. Witness Protection, remember? _Rossi stowed the Springfield Armory in the waistband of his jeans, wincing slightly as the cold metal touched his backside.

"DUDE! THE COPS ARE COMING!"

A twenty-something young man with Beatles-long hair ran slightly sideways, supporting his red solo-cup drink in the air, willing it not to spill.

Rossi could hear sirens in the background, and determined to asses the situation quickly. _Punks… a damned house party… the PD will sort this out… you better clear out of here… _

Turning back towards the fence line, quite ready to make a running jump leap back into his would-be yard, he came face to face with a swaying young woman with raven black hair. Her gaze was confused, steadied on him, no doubt her alcohol riddled mind unwilling to recognize this older man at a house party. "Who… Who're you?" She stammered as she doubled over and vomited violently, missing David's bare feet by inches.

"Goddamnit." Dave mumbled. _Stupid teenagers. _Rossi turned his head to the sound of the steadily growing louder sirens. _I can't be caught here… with underage drinking… _With one last look at the now dry-heaving teenager he made a quick judgement. She was still standing – still slightly coherent. She would get away or she'd get an ambulance's insistence on a stomache purge. She'd be okay – him on the other hand… it was now or never. "You okay?" He asked rather quickly. "Yea… I will be…" The girl stood to full height now, looking embarrassed and Rossi let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. The moonlight was making her skin seem to glow, and against her jet black hair it was unsettling… _She's… beautiful?_

A quick clip of some Vampire movie he'd seen years ago flashed behind his eyes. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts and images, he whispered in her direction, "I'm going now. Be safer." And Rossi, much to his own surprise, leapt into an almost youthful bound towards the fence and cleared it almost as easily as if he were hopping over Mudgie at Little Creek. The little devil on his shoulder, or, as he thought of him, the younger, stronger, attractive and charming version of him, fisted the air and shouted "I still got it!"

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	3. Chapter 3

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Several hours later, after relatively interrupted sleep, Rossi woke to the sound of the unfamiliar door bell. Looking grumpily over his shoulder as if the bedroom door would answer his thoughts, Rossi's mind tried to adjust to the late day sunlight filtering through his room. _Who is hanging on the bell? No one knows me here… Maybe Emily…_

With that hopeful thought, he quickly put jeans on and had one sleeve through a button up when he wrenched open front door. "Emi.." The scene that met him was not what he was expecting. Three attractive middle aged women, all dressed brightly and adorned with far too much makeup and jewels, only one of them had the ability to peel her eyes away from his firm, uncovered chest.

"Oh my. We've caught you at a bad time. I apologize… I'm Kelly… these are my dearest friends, Kimberly and Kinley… We live on the court…" Her rapid fire words were accented by the eager bounce of her perfect curled blonde tresses.

Rossi wasn't aware he was wearing a scowl that could make an unsub quell, and truth be told, he appeared very grizzly-bear like to Kelly. Maybe he was a dangerous madman?

"Hi.. I'm Kimmy… We brought you some neighborly treats!" The brunette with unnaturally plumped and purple lips flushed brightly, holding up what appeared to be a fruit cake.

"Um…Hi…" Rossi had no intentions of introducing himself by his ridiculous Witness Protection name.

"May we come in? It's awful hot out…" Kelly smiled sweetly, readjusting the banana pudding platter in her arms.

"Sure." Rossi stepped back and unconsciously forwent continuing to put on his shirt. It fell unceremoniously behind the door as he had to widen it even further for the three women to walk in.

"Oohh! You really ARE new! You haven't unpacked a thing!" Kimberly chimed brightly, looking around the empty living room, except a lone brown wrap around couch that faced the unused fireplace.

"Just got here yesterday." Rossi could feel his lips twitching in annoyance. _Just 'got here'? Should reword that. You're the new guy, moved in. _

"Where are you originally from?" Kelly pressed, having missed his faux pau in word choosing.

_I wish this bitch would take her botox riddled… _"Chicago. Thank you ladies for bringing the…. Treats…. I don't mean to be rude, I've had a long night…" Hoping they would get the hint and realizing with almost mock annoyance they were staring at his bare chest again, he cleared his throat, only Kinley looked embarrassed to be caught. _She's quiet. _He noted with appreciation.

"Of course, we'll be on our way. We just wanted to make a good first impression, you know!" Kelly giggled nervously at the awkward silence and looked to Kimberly for back up.

"Yes. Yes that's exactly it…" Kimberly nodded matter-of-factly. "We also insist you join us tomorrow evening for our monthly block party tradition… We do it every last Sunday of the month… Everyone meets and brings a dish and we potluck with all the kids… in front of Kelly's house.." She seemed quick to add.

Kelly nodded in approval in her direction then pointedly smiled back at Rossi. "I'm sorry, we've been so rude! I don't even know your name!" Again, Kelly was persistent.

"Dave."

"Dave! Great!" Kelly clasped her hands. "Alright ladies, lets give Dave some privacy. See you tomorrow night, Dave!" Kelly called sweetly behind her as she ushered the women towards the door. "And don't worry about bringing anything, you're our GUEST as far as we're concerned! Ciao!"

And as the door closed, Rossi got the sense that he'd never had a chance to decline the invitation to what was sure to be a nightmare of a gathering…. Still holding the pudding in his hands and staring at the front door he envisioned a mess of children running and screaming bloody murder through sprinklers and all the husbands and fathers standing around the grill talking about their stock options and newest cars while the wives drank themselves silly and gossiped about every detail of their latest victim… him.

A feeling of doomed powerlessness enveloped him."Fuck!"

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**Please let me know what you think! Thank you for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

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"Rossi! Rossi what's wrong?" Emily held the phone to here ear frantically, pacing her kitchen. "Are you alright? Have any of the Santini family contacted you? Have you been threatened? Where are you?" Her words came out in a rush.

"Emily, I'm fine, relax. I just needed someone to talk to. I'm going crazy here."

Emily stopped dead in her kitchen and her mouth made a slight "o".

"David are you fucking kidding me? You're risking everything! I thought you were in danger! You're only to use this line in an emergency! What part of cut off from the world don't you understand? You've been gone two days for Christ sake!" Emily practically screamed. God, this man was determined to give an early heart attack.

"You don't understand! I've been invited to one of their snippety block party dinners, and three of Magnolia Courts worst dressed housewives came over WHILE I WAS SLEEPING, and then tried to poison me with their God-awful cooking. Emily, I can't do this. Send me anywhere else, please… you have connections at Interpol? HELP ME."

The lame desperation and story attached to his pleading instantly had her holding her mouth so as not to laugh audibly into the throw-away cell phone.

"That doesn't sound so bad… Were any of them cute?"

"EMILY."

"Dave, I don't know what you want here, to stay alive or live in a resort with a huge 'COME SHOOT THE RAT' sign tattooed on your forehead…" She was instantly serious again. The situation far graver than David Rossi had ever given it credit for. The family that had threatened to kill him always made good on their rivalry vendettas.

"That smarts, Em. I'm not a rat. I'm a federal agent whose about to kill one of these stupid botoxed barbies, now will you PLEASE get me out of here?"

"I can't help you right now Dave. I'm destroying this phone. I'll give you a new number in a few days. Do me a favor and keep yourself alive until then?"

"Emily, please.. please don't hang up… I need you… I can't… I don't know anyone. This is…." His pleading was serious now, and rushed, like he wouldn't survive if she hung up.

Emily felt her tears before she even realized she was crying. Sniffing inaudibly so he couldn't hear she tried to put on her strongest voice. "I'm sorry you're going through this. I'll do what I can, okay? I'll call you tomorrow, at this number. Keep your cell on you. Try to have a better evening." And because she couldn't handle hearing anymore of his loneliness, she hung up before he could respond.

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"Dave!" So glad you could make it!" Kelly Johnston, clear ring-leader of this carnival-like event, came rushing towards him, pink polkadot dress flouncing, one hand deftly attempting to steady a full margarita glass. As she waved her free arm and smiled like a 1950's Coca-Cola girl, Rossi's inner gentleman struggled to get out while he plastered a friendly smile on his face and walked across her perfectly manicured lawn to meet her.

"Dave, I'm SO glad you made it." She gushed dramatically, the tequila on her breath more than pungent.

"Well, I didn't have to trek far…" Rossi deadpanned, looking momentarily two houses down across the street at the pathetic cookie-cutter home he was supposed to call his own.

Kelly erupted into hysterical laughter. "You are SO funny. Come, meet my husband Bob. And look! Kinley's husband decided to come! Hi George!" her shrill voice in his ears as she grabbed his arm and drug him to meet everyone was starting to give him a headache.

Rossi noted that Kinley held her hands in her lap, and looked down a lot. George waved. Kelly whispered in Rossi's ear "He's not in town often, he works out of state mostly. But when he is, he's not very social." She made comically wide eyes at him for emphasis.

"Must be hard for Kinley." Dave noted, looking at the dirty blonde with empathy. _There's something not quite right there… _

"Bob. This is our new neighbor Dave, the one I told you about. I took him Pudding yesterday!" Kelly sang sweetly, dragging David closer to her husbands oversized grill.

"Ah, tried to poison you, did she? I'm George. Hamburgers about done. I'm in Real Estate, keeping up blow for blow with this economy, you know?" Bob threw a few mock punches and kept a cheesy smile plastered on his face. "What do you do, Davey?"

Rossi wanted to throw a not-so-mock punch at his face. "Well, I used to round up serial killers but that got boring… Now I'm just a pudding connoisseur." Rossi gratefully accepted a beer from Kelly. Bob didn't know what to say for a moment, then got the joke. "Ah! A joker. Serial killers. I like you!"

"Thanks, Bob. Uh… where is the restroom?" Rossi was desperate for an escape. He realized now that Emily had been absolutely right about practicing his "cover story" of who he was, and he'd already blown the first cardinal rule by using his real first name.

"Right through there and first door on the left." George used his spatula to point while he took a long swig of an unmarked bottle, craftily hidden beneath the grill.

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**Would love any thoughts, comments, ideas or critics =D thank you everyone for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Finally the evening was dwindling down and Rossi felt like he might be able to make a quick escape back across Magnolia Court and to the safety of his would-be home. Even in all it's emptiness and lacking of familiarity, anything would be better than another minute of this damned block party bbq with the 'botoxed barbies' as he was now coming to think of them in his head. Kelly had been insistent throughout the day, however, dragging him around and introducing him to all the neighbors who seemed just as pained as Rossi to be there, but unable to turn Kelly down. David was getting the impression that Kelly was a bit of a busy body bully on the block.

Walking through the hedge from Bob and Kelly's backyard, to the side of the house he bumped into something that yelped.

"Ouch! Watch where you're stepping, jesus!" A raven black head popped up to reveal stunning hazel orbs.

"You again. Why are you sitting in the hedge?" Rossi grinned at the adolescent he'd witnessed vomiting just a few nights before, when he'd fled the illegal house party.

"Hiding from my life. Why are you trying to leave the party early?" The girl, who appeared to be about 16, stood up from her hiding spot and brushed the leaves and dirt from her leggings.

"Because I couldn't eat another hot dog if my life depended on it and the Barbie-Wives won't stop parading me around to all the neighbors." David's eyes assessed the young adult shrewdly.

"Barbie-Wives. I really like that." She didn't laugh, and the small smile she gave didn't reach her eyes. Again, David mentally noticed she was quite beautiful. "You don't look like a lawyer or an accountant, but you wear imported suit pants like one." She deadpanned, a slight pout on her lips and only observing, without asking what he really did for a living.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Which set of misfits belong to you?" David asked with a nod towards the chatting couples on the front lawn.

"The lion and the coward." She paused momentarily for a morose look towards the lawn, then abruptly began to walk away. David wanted to stop her, to ask her what she meant.

This black headed young woman was the first and only individual that didn't strike him as part of an assembly line cookie-cutter person in this town. He didn't stop her however, just watched her pick her way carefully through the next hedge, head hanging down, bangs so thick across her forehead he had no idea how she could see where she was going. It made him smile.

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"Bob, Kelly, thanks for having me. I've never felt so welcomed." Rossi shook Bob's hand, and the smell of liquor on his breath was more than pungent.

"Oh! Dave! Don't go just yet! The men and I –we sneak off and have a round of poker and cigars while the women folk clean up and get the kids off to bed. You MUST join. I insist." Bob swayed precariously, and Dave caught his shoulder just in time.

"If you don't, George might take it personally!" Bob said with a grin towards the grimacing George's direction.

"Yea, Dave. Join us." George offered unenthusiastically, twiddling an empty beer bottle in one hand.

Something about his steely eyes and threatening demeanor really got under David's skin. "I suppose one round won't kill me." He knew all too well that with his profiling abilities and excellent card playing skills it wasn't a fair game at all, plus most of these guys seemed a few sheets to the wind already.

"Great! Hey boys, the New Guy here is gonna join us for a round of poker!" Bob called to the small crowd of men now abandoning their families and strollers, trekking uncaringly over Kelly's petunias and perfectly manicured lawn towards Bob's grill.

"Oh well, I guess I lose you to the boys now. Good luck, Dave. Don't let George and Bob bully you, they sometimes don't know when enough is enough…" Kelly said with fake cheer to Dave. "Come on, Kinley, let's get this mess cleaned up. I could use another margarita…" Kelly was walking towards a distraught looking Kinley. "Have you seen Sera?" Kinley looked around the yard and down the street distractedly wringing her hands. David noticed she was wearing a deep frown, one of legitimate worry. "She was with the kids at that Carrison's pool last I saw. I'm sure she's fine, hun, you worry too much. You know, if you keep too tight a leash on her she'll go wild first chance she gets." Kelly picked up a large empty burger platter and shoved it in Kinley's bare arms. "Help me gather all the dishes, will you?"

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	6. Chapter 6

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Following the small group of 6 men into Bob's well designed man-cave of a den, David replayed the scene with Kinley and Kelly. And George came to mind. The look on his face had been down right daring, and Dave knew the look well. George didn't trust him. _He very well could be a problem…Probably should stick to my lame cover story in case it comes up…_And again he saw Kinley's worried face. _"Have you seen Searah?" _Seerah? Or Sarah? Which had he heard? It almost sounded like Sarah, but it wasn't. Searah…That was an odd name. But then, so was Kinley, in that wasn't very common.

In any event, he had a very knowing suspicion that the black-headed girl was whom Kinley had been referring to. _In which case, is Kinley the lion or the coward? _Dave surmised George might be the proverbial lion, and he decided to use this stupid round of poker to dig a little information out of whomever he could. _Kinley and Searah aren't happy women, I can imagine whose to blame… _Again, David found himself eyeing George and disliking him more and more.

Once seated around the poker table, with drinks filled and cigar smoke filtering up into the low ceiling of Bob's den, strategically built and placed in the very back corner of his large back yard, David became acquainted gain with the men of the block. Scott was a stock broker, Yen was an accountant (Dave ventured a quick look at his pants, sure enough, imported by the looks of the white on brown stitching.) Steve was an attorney for the largest medical hospital in the area, Carl consulted finances of some sort and Bob and George both worked for the third largest insurance company nationwide, Bob as a claim writer and George as a traveling sales consultant. _I hate sales people…_David thought to himself. _What a bunch of lily-ass…_but his thoughts were cut short as Yen began dealing and reminding of the rules of Texas Hold 'Em. _This would be too easy. Do I take them all or would that draw too much attention to myself? _He wondered.

_There is one key fucking problem with witness protection in a city, goddamnit Strauss. If any one of these fuckers has read one of my books…_ It could mean he'd leave tonight. The thought made him happy. Maybe he'd blow his own cover just for the excuse to leave. He had went round and round with Erin about locating him somewhere remote and desolate. Like, Aruba.

Bob interrupted his internal stewing by placing a tumbler full of whiskey in front of his right hand. "Dave, so tell us, what brings you to Magnolia Court?" _And here it starts. _His annoyed inner self grimaced. Yen dealt the cards as all eyes were on him.

"Just needed a fresh start. Divorce. Mess of paperwork and lawyers and unknown bank accounts and name changes and people trying to kill me with nefarious objects." Technically not a word of it had been a lie, and he had earned several knowing nods from around the table.

"Divorce is a bitch, man. I'm on number two, myself. And she ain't ever getting a divorce." Carl took a long swig of beer to more knowing nods around the table.

David was feeling more than disgusted with the group mentality. Clearly these men believed they owned their wives like a piece of property.

"So, George. Kinley is aweful quiet. Got depression or something?" Rossi's totally in effectuate and placid tone brought a menacing twitch to George's face. "Had a sister that had depression. Walked around like a zombie." David lightly tapped the poker table, signaling Yen that he was in for the round, and tossed a few more chips in the pile.

"She's just… shy." George ground out, eyeing David dangerously.

"What about Searah? Awkward goth phase? That's got to be rough. Teenagers…" David was goading him, using a stress interview technique to test the boundaries of George's calm.

"Sera takes after her mother. Needs a lot of… direction." George threw a few chips onto the table a bit more forcefully than was necessary. Leaning forward, taking a long swig of his beer and setting it down hard he added, "But she's not stupid. She knows what she's doing."

"As opposed to Kinley?" David lit his cigar while maintaining a placid and uninterested expression.

"Something like that." George's pulse was starting to race. _Who does this fuck think he is, questioning me about my family? _"What about you. Why'd your marriage fail?"

At this David visibly smirked. He'd done it, gotten under his skin and now he was deflecting. "Oh…. Any number of reasons I guess. They say it's easy to look back and try to find out what went wrong, but in this case, I find that I can look to the present and have a pretty good idea of it. She's money and attention hungry." Dave shrugged non-chalantly. "I met Sera, I think she's got a witty sense of humor. Kinley must be a riot when she isn't being shy. Two pea's in a pod, I bet." Dave managed to switch the conversation back before he'd been able to comment on the divorce, purposefully baiting him by articulating a perceived separation between George and the rest of his family.

It worked. Dave worked to hide the grin growing. He was having far too much fun, it'd been way too long since he'd been able to use interrogation tactics.

"When did you meet her? I didn't see her around today. What did she say?" The last words he bit out with too much eagerness, as if he was morbidly curious and didn't want anyone to know it.

"She made a pretty funny and ironic reference to 'Wizard of Oz', smart girl, that one. Very smart. Must take after her mom."

The vein in George's temple was now visibly pulsing as he attempted to calmly excuse himself for the restroom.

"What the hell was that all about?" Carl asked to no one in particular.

"There's always something crawling up his ass… let's just play the game, please?" Bob sighed and shook his head at Rossi in an "Sorry about that guy" kind of way.

Rossi just grinned and nodded back, twirling his cigar in his mouth and settled a little more comfortably in his chair to continue the game.

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**That's it for this chapter. I really struggled with the last few paragraphs for some reason, wasn't totally sure where I was going with it. **

**Anyways, please leave me any thoughts or comments, love to hear from you guys! :)**


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